The new wheelchair in action. Photo: Screenshot.

An new product created by an Israeli start up will allow the severely disabled to descend staircases without harming themselves, Israel’s Channel 2 reported on Wednesday.

Technology developed by the Softwheel company will, according to CEO Daniel Bar-El, “Do away with the need to find a ramp,” when someone using a wheelchair wants to go down a flight of stairs.

Bar-El’s product is a wheel that can absorb the shock from dropping from one step to the next. It also features an internal mechanism that allows for easy maneuvering.

Softwheel is the brainchild of Gilad Wolf who was injured four years ago when he fell and landed on his hips. For three weeks, Wolf recalled in an interview with Channel 2, “I was only able to get around in a wheelchair. At some point, I thought up the idea of incorporating airbags. It’s worked out very nicely.”

Softwheel is now in the process of a major roll out. Every component of Softwheel’s products are ‘blue and white’, the colors of Israel’s flag, from the wheel’s metal exterior to the internal piston.

While current Softwheel technology is only being used for bicycles and wheelchairs, the company has big plans for the future: to develop a product that will allow those with reduced mobility to alight from their cars without having to locate a ramp.

Watch a video of Softwheel in action below: